At the time of the present invention the publicly accessible wide-area network well-known as the Internet, World Wide Web (WWW), or more simply the Web has demonstrated great success, and continues to grow at a rapid rate. Individuals, businesses, public and private agencies and the like are depending on the Web for quick access to information and for rapid transfers of large amounts of data of all sorts. According to experts and analysts phenomenal growth and development of new Web products is virtually certain to continue.
Also at the time of the present invention, the use of paging systems continues to grow as well. Paging systems, as is well-known in the art, are systems wherein users may carry small electronic devices (pagers), which are receivers for RF transmitters arranged in matrices to cover a relatively broad geographic area. Information for an individual subscriber to a paging service is delivered to a central location controlled by the company providing the service, and broadcast to a matrix of regional transmitters covering the geographical area where the subscriber is likely to be. The information is keyed to the individual's pager, and typically displayed on a small LCD screen of the pager. Transmission from the central location to the matrix of local transmitters is typically by satellite uplink and downlink.
The functionality of paging service differs in the type of information which may be delivered. In one familiar mode, one may call a paging company from a touch-tone telephone (or a telephone call may be diverted and forwarded to a paging service), and then enter (usually at a prompt) a telephone number for the intended recipient to call. The telephone number is then broadcast by the paging service to the matrix of transmitters and rebroadcast to be received by the intended recipient's pager. The number is displayed on a display screen of the pager.
The telephone system as described immediately above is not very practicable, however, for longer alphanumeric messages. For systems that actually deliver messages instead of only return phone numbers, a different mode of delivering the message to the paging service provider is necessary. In many instances a paging terminal or special software operating on a PC is needed, wherein messages are entered from the keyboard associated with the terminal or PC, and then delivered as machine operable text to the paging service provider's central location by means of a modem over the public switched telephone network (PSTN). In some few instances known to the inventor, users may send an e-mail message to an address not specifically associated with an individual. The e-mail message sent must have considerable routing information, such as paging network, PIN number, and the like relative to the intended recipient.
What is clearly needed is a simplified and direct way for users to send alphanumeric messages to recipients carrying pagers.